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I was wondering if anyone had any luck in to getting their existing HSBC bank acount converted to HSBC Advance account.
When I spoke to the customer service person on the phone I was told that they wan to see for at least 3 months that the £1750 is coming in monthly.
Although I can arrange for £1750 to get transfered there monthly, I would then transfer that money back to an interest paying account elsewhere. I am wondering if I was to do this the HSBC staff member in charge of deciding if I am eligible for an upgrade would not say that as he sees that I only transfer £1750 in and out I do not qualify for Advance.

Another way I was thinking of getting the Advance is to close my existing current account with them now and applying for a new account in a few months. During the applicationj I would state this is going to be my main acount and chose Advance account at the application.

I was wondering if anyone had any luck in to getting their existing HSBC bank acount converted to HSBC Advance account.
When I spoke to the customer service person on the phone I was told that they wan to see for at least 3 months that the £1750 is coming in monthly.
Although I can arrange for £1750 to get transfered there monthly, I would then transfer that money back to an interest paying account elsewhere. I am wondering if I was to do this the HSBC staff member in charge of deciding if I am eligible for an upgrade would not say that as he sees that I only transfer £1750 in and out I do not qualify for Advance.

Another way I was thinking of getting the Advance is to close my existing current account with them now and applying for a new account in a few months. During the applicationj I would state this is going to be my main acount and chose Advance account at the application.

If your earnings are abive the £30k to meet the basic funding requirement then they may well be fine with the money being transferred in and not necessarily from wages.

I opened an advance account a few months ago, I do earn enough but my wages don't go into it, after much painful delay the account was opened and I got the switching bonus and associated regular saver.

No need for even this, I upgraded an old student that I hadn't used for a few years by transferring £1,750 (I think I did £2k but probably not necessary) once a month for 3 months, in and out within minutes. No problem upgrading over the phone.

You could be really cheeky, sit down with one of the sales bods in branch, and say "Honestly, I really really promise that I'll pay £1750 a month in, honest, and I promise I won't just transfer it out and in again from another bank, and happy to sign the form that says I will, but I could change my mind later I guess, y'know, scout's honour and all that, wink wink?"

And see if they are getting desperate for their sales targets at the end of the month, don't give a monkey's, and put it through.

No need for even this, I upgraded an old student that I hadn't used for a few years by transferring £1,750 (I think I did £2k but probably not necessary) once a month for 3 months, in and out within minutes. No problem upgrading over the phone.

Did they ask you anything at all on the phone about your planned usage of the account etc or did they just see 2k are coming in and clicked the upgrade button?
Also, did you do any other transactions on the account during those three months at all?

Did they ask you anything at all on the phone about your planned usage of the account etc or did they just see 2k are coming in and clicked the upgrade button?
Also, did you do any other transactions on the account during those three months at all?

No, no other transactions were done, I don't think I was asked many questions, it was literally a case of phoning up, them checking that I was eligible to upgrade (yes, the money is coming in each month) and upgrade. It was coming up to a year ago (my regular saver is about to mature), so can't remember exactly, but I don't remember it being too painful a process.

You've got nothing to lose by doing a few transfers and asking the question in a couple of months time.

I just had the same problem, I applied for a Advantage account on line and I've just received a letter saying that I haven't met the criteria, but I can have a normal Current Account, so no switch incentive and no regular saver.
Maybe I'll go for First Direct instead, although I'm sure that I've had one before and
'http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts'

Says 'Newbies to First Direct' so I don't think I'd get the £125, guess I could try

'**£125 to say hello
If you open a 1st Account, switch your everyday banking to us using the Current Account Switch Service and pay in at least £1,000 within three months of opening the account, we'll top it up with £125 - it's the least we can do to welcome you on board...
This offer is limited to one payment per customer or joint account, and you'll get the money within 28 days of all criteria being met.Sorry, we can only offer this to people who haven't previously held an account with us, and we reserve the right to refuse your application and extend or withdraw this offer at any time. Credit is subject to status.'

So maybe Co-op, I did think of M&S but it looks like they have dropped there incentive

I called HSBC to apply over the phone, they told me to do it on the web, so I've just done it again and changed some of the numbers, I received a message saying that they will need to look at my application, so lets see what happens, if not I'll go elsewhere

I wouldn't hold your breath, I have never experienced such shoddy service as with HSBC, it took six weeks from me applying for an account for one to be opened. I phoned to transfer my account and wasn't able to be put through to the department that dealt with switching. This happened on three separate occasions. So I was advised to go into the local branch. I did, I queued up at the cashiers to be told I needed to wait to see someone else, I waited nearly twenty minutes. I was then told I needed to make an appointment. That's when I closed the account.
I will stay with my current bank, They can keep their £150.

I started paying my salary into my HSBC Bank Account (£2k/month) for the past few months and just received this email....

Am going to call them and see if they'll upgrade it sooner so I can make use of the Regular Saver and cheaper withdrawals for a trip next month.

That new debit card looks hideous.... oh well.

EDIT - Just phoned, they said they could upgrade without running an application or credit search if I had an 'upgrade marker' on my account, but I don't, so they would have to run a full app/credit search. I decided to wait until May where it'll upgrade automatically. Odd.

EDIT 2 - Thought I'd update this, tried calling again on the off chance I'd get a different response a day later, and this time the person upgraded my account straight away, ordered a new advance debit card. No credit check or application.

I wouldn't hold your breath, I have never experienced such shoddy service as with HSBC, it took six weeks from me applying for an account for one to be opened. I phoned to transfer my account and wasn't able to be put through to the department that dealt with switching. This happened on three separate occasions. So I was advised to go into the local branch. I did, I queued up at the cashiers to be told I needed to wait to see someone else, I waited nearly twenty minutes. I was then told I needed to make an appointment. That's when I closed the account.
I will stay with my current bank, They can keep their £150.

I decided to make a complaint about the shoddy service, I got a reply to say they took complaints very seriously and I would hear back within five working days.
Wow seven working days later I received a holding letter. It's now been three and a half weeks.

Really shoddy service, why on earth do they do a massive marketing campaign and not have the staff to deal with it?

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